Justifying spaceband



March 21, 1939. G, w. ALLISON 2,151,367

JUSTIFYING SPACEBAND Filed NOV. 17, 1957 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY7 WM M March 21, 1939. G, w. ALLISON 2,151,367

JUSTIFYING SPACEBAND Filed Nov. 17, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W645A Tram/12 a.

Patented Mar. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE J USTIFYING SPACEBANDration of New York Application November 17, 1937, Serial No. 174,960

18 Claims.

This invention relates to justifying spacers or spacebands, such as areused in the typographical composing and casting machines knowncommercially under the trade-mark Linotype, and

kindred machines, for the justifying of composed lines of matrices priorto the casting operations.

These spacers or spacebands are ordinarily formed of two main parts,viz., two oppositely wedge-shaped members, one shorter than the otherand known as the stationary part and provided with cars by which it isheld against movement during justification, and the second or longermember which is slidably connected (by tongue and groove portions) tothe shorter one in such manner as to enable it to be forced upwardsthrough the composed line for effecting the justification.

Heretofore, the tongue and groove portions of the spacebands have beenemployed to perform 29 the dual function of guiding the members in theirrelative movement and holding them against facewise movement. Due to thesmallness of the tongue and groove portions, however, it has beenimpractical to machine the surfaces thereof by 25, grinding, andalthough with very careful milling operations a workable spaceband canbe manufactured, it lacks a completely satisfactory close fit of thetongue and groove which, at the same time, will not unduly impede thesliding 30 action of the members in their relative movement. Moreover,the fit of the tongue and groove obtained by milling is not accurateenough to obviate to a desirable extent a relative edgewise movement ofthe members, which tends to 35 cause binding and results in excessivewear of the parts and a material shortening of the life of thespaceband.

According to the present improvements, the wedge-shaped members areformed for sliding 4o engagement with bearing and guiding surfaces whichare machine-ground throughout theirfull extent, and in carrying out theinvention, the spaceband is preferably made in three separate partsadapted for assembly after the bearing and 45 guiding surfaces have beenproperly finished.

However, in its completely assembled form, the spaceband may or may notretain its three-part character, according to whichever of threeembodiments thereof it is desired to produce.

50 According to one embodiment of the invention, the shorterWedge-shaped member is formed on its inner surface with a raised guidingblock adapted to fit in a slot formed in the longer member,and a smallremovable section, having a tight 55 tongue and groove connection withthe block and a relatively loose tongue and groove connection with thelonger member, is employed to function solely to hold the membersagainst facewise movement.

Another embodiment of the invention provides 5 a spaceband wherein thesection for holding the members against facewise movement is made as aseparate part and subsequently attached permanently to the guiding blockby spot-welding.

A third embodiment of the invention, on the 10 other hand, provides aspaceband wherein the guiding block is formed separately and thenpermanently attached to the shorter wedgeshaped member by spot-welding,the block being formed with integral laterally extending tongues 15 foreffecting the sliding connection of the two members which holds themagainst facewise movement.

Referring to the drawings, which shows the parts of the spaceband on agreatly enlarged scale,

Fig. 1 is a face view, showing the shorter member in its uppermostposition by the solid lines 1 and in its lowermost position by thedotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shorter member, showing its innerface which is adapted for bearing contact with the longer member;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the removable section detached;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Figs. 6 and 6 are views similar to Figs. 3 and 3 showing a differentembodiment of the invention; and

Figs. 7 and 7 are views similar to Figs. 3 and 3*, showing still anotherembodiment of the invention.

A spaceband of the kind referred to comprises two wedge-shaped members Aand B secured together for relative slidable movement, the shortermember A being provided with ears A by which it is held against verticalmovement during justification. The member A is machineground to a goodfinish along its marginal portions a to provide a plane surface forsliding contact with the member B; and in its lower portion,intermediate the marginal surfaces, it is formed with a raised portion Acooperating in a manner hereinafter described with the longer member Bto guide the members in their relative movement.

The longer wedge member B has formed in it a longitudinal slot or recessB terminating just short of the upper end of the member and extendingentirely through the member except in the lower portion or thick end ofthe wedge. Here too, the member B, to provide a plane surface forcontact with the member A, is machineground to a good finish along itsmarginal portions 1) contiguous to the slot B The slot B is adapted toreceive the raised portion A of the shorter member and cooperate with itto guide the members in their relative sliding movement duringjustification.

In the new and improved construction, according to the embodiment shownin Figs. 1 to 5, the raised portion A is formed with straightmachine-ground edge walls A perpendicular to the inner surface of themember A. The raised portion A is also formed with a transverse slot Awhose upper and lower walls are shaped as at A to accommodate aremovable section A adapted to fit slidingly in the slot, itscorrespondingly shaped opposite edges A having a tight dovetail fit withthe undercut walls A The section A is wider than the raised portion A sothat its bevelled opposite edges A project beyond the opposite edges ofthe raised portion A The slot B in the long wedge member B, is definedby edge walls B which, for a given depth, extend perpendicularly to thebearing surfaces b on opposite sides of the slot B and then flareoutwardly as at B the edge walls B being ma chine-ground for an accuratesliding engagement with the edge walls A of the raised portion A and theflared portions B being adapted to cooperate with the bevelled edges A?of the removable section A. Since the bevelled. edges A of the section Acan be machine-ground to corre-' spond accurately with the bevelledsurfaces B facewise play between the members A and B is minimized, itbeing noted, however, that these surfaces need not be finished forsliding engagement because during justification the inward pressure onthe outer surfaces of the members A and B tends to separate the bevelledsurfaces A and B all guiding being cared for by the niachined surfaces Aand B 7 During assembly of the parts, the raised portion A with thesection A in place, is slid into the slot B from the open or lower endthereof in order to establish the interfitting or dovetail connection,the member B being provided with a pin B adjacent its lower end whichacts as a stop for the member A and thus preventthe parts from slidingapart longitudinally when in use, all

in the usual manner.

In the second embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 6 thesection A (as before) is formed as a separate element to permit thegrinding of the bearing and guiding surfaces a and A on the member A andraised portion A respectively, but is thereafter spot-welded in place inthe slot A formed in the raised portion A and thus irremovably attachedto the member A. In this instance, the walls A of the slot A and theside edges A' of the section A are straight (rather than dovetailed) andcooperateto locate the section A accurately for the welding operation.

According to the third embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. '7and. 7 a rectangular block A (corresponding to the raised portion A ofthe firstand second embodiment) is adapted to be spot-welded to theshorter wedge-shaped member A after the bearing surfaces a of the memberand the guiding surfaces A of the block A have been machine-ground. Inthis instance, laterally extending tongues A and A adapted to engage thesurfaces B on the longer member B vantages over the old. For example,the bearing and guiding surfaces are all machine-ground, providingaccurate fitting and engagement of the parts, a smooth and easy slidingof the parts in their relative movement, and an appreciable reduction ofrelative facewise and edgewise movement of the parts, all of whichgreatly reduces wear'and increases the life of the spaceband. Bybuilding up the spaceband of three separate parts, all surfaces of theparts which are adapted for sliding contact when assembled are readilyaccessible for machine-grinding to provide smooth finished surfaces,just enough tolerance being allowed to provide freedom of movement ofthe members without interfering with the accurate guiding of the membersin their relative movement. Moreover, the members A and B can bestandardized, thus rendering corresponding parts interchangeable andthereby materially reducing cost, both as regards original manufactureand repair of parts. Furthermore, the behavior of the new spaceband inuse is far superior to that of the old, due to the machine-grinding ofall bearing and guiding surfaces which slide upon each other smoothlyand easily as the spaceband is expanded during justification.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention has been shown merely byway'of example and in preferred form and obviously many variations andmodifications may be made therein which will still be comprised withinits spirit. It should be understood, therefore, thatthe invention is notlimited to any specific form or embodiment except insofar as suchlimitations are specified in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: I

1. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable wedge-shaped members presenting inner surfaces infacewise bearing contact and other surfaces in edgewise contact forguiding the members in their relative movement, and a free-fittingconnection between said members acting solely to hold them againstfacewise movement. I i

I 2. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable wedge-shaped members presenting inner surfaces infacewise bearing contact and surfaces perpendicular thereto in edgewisecontact for guiding the members in their relative movement, anda'free-fitting connection between said members acting solely to holdthem against facewise movement.

3. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable wedge-shaped members presenting inner surfaces inbearing contact, interfitting means presenting machine- 7 groundsurfaces in sliding contact for guiding the members edgewise in theirrelative movement,' and a free-fitting connection between said mem bersacting solely to hold them against facewise movement.

4. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presentingmachineground inner surfaces in bearing'contact, a raised guidingportion carried on the inner surface of one member and presenting edgewalls perpendicular to the inner wall of said member and adaptedfor-sliding engagement with the edge walls of a slot formed in the othermember to guide the members in their relative movement, and afree-fitting connection between said members acting solely to hold themagainst facewise move ment.

' 5. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable wedge-shaped members presenting inner surfaces inbearing contact, one member being formed on its inner surface with araised guiding portion having machine-ground edge walls, and the othermember being formed with a slot to receive said raised portion, thewalls of the slot being machineground and having a sliding engagementwith the edge walls of the raised portion, and a free-fitting connectionbetween said members acting solely to hold them against facewisemovement.

6. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presenting innersurfaces in bearing contact, one member being formed on its innersurface with a raised guiding portion and the other member being formedwith a slot slidingly fitted to the raised guiding portion, and aseparate section having opposite bevelled edges projecting beyond theside edges of the raised guiding portion on the one member and engagedwith correspondingly bevelled surfaces extending laterally from theedges of the slot in the other member to hold the members againstrelative facewise movement.

7. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presenting innersurfaces in bearing contact, one member being formed on its innersurface with a raised guiding portion the edge walls of which presentstraight guiding surfaces, and the other member being formed with astraight-sided slot slidingly fitted to the raised guiding portion, anda separate section having opposite bevelled edges projecting beyond theedge walls of the raised guiding portion of the one member and engagedwith correspondingly bevelled surfaces extending laterally from theedges of the slot in the other member to hold the members againstrelative facewise movement.

8. A combination according to claim 7, wherein the separate section isremovably attached to the raised guiding portion.

9. A combination according to claim 7, wherein the separate section isspot-welded to the raised guiding portion.

10. A combination according to claim 7, wherein the edge walls of theraised portion extend from and are perpendicular to the inner bearingsurface of the member on which the raised guiding portion is formed.

11. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presenting innersurfaces in bearing contact, one member being formed on its innersurface with a raised guiding portion the edge walls of which presentstraight guiding surfaces, and the other member being formed with astraight-sided slot slidingly fitted to the raised guiding portion, anda separate section arranged in the raised guiding portion and havingopposite bevelled edges projecting beyond the guiding surfaces of saidportion and overlying to form bearing surfaces, a second longerwedgeshaped member formed with one face machineground for bearingcontact with the bearing surfaces of said short member and having acentral longitudinal slot to receive said raised portion formed on theshorter member, the edge walls of said slot being machine-ground forsliding engagement with the guiding surfaces of said raised portion, anda separate section carried by the shorter member and cooperative withthe longer member solely to hold the members against facewise movement.

13. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a relatively shortwedge-shaped member formed on one face with a centrally located raisedportion having straight machine-ground edge walls to form guidingsurfaces, the face of said member on opposite sides of the raisedportion being machine-ground throughout its extent to form bearingsurfaces, a transverse slot formed in said raised portion and presentingupper and lower walls, a separate section adapted to be accommodated insaid slot and having its upper and lower edges formed for engagementwith the upper and lower walls of the slot, said section havingmachine-ground bevelled side edges projecting beyond the oppositeguiding surfaces of said raised portion, a second longer wedge-shapedmember formed with one face machine-ground for bearing contact with thebearing surfaces of said short member and having a central longitudinalslot to receive said raised portion formed on the shorter member, theside edges of said slot being machine-ground for sliding engagement withthe guiding surfaces of said raised portion, and correspondingly shapedsurfaces extending laterally from the side edges of said slot tocooperate with the bevelled projecting edges of said section, wherebysaid members are free to partake of a smooth and easy sliding motionwhile being held against facewise displacement.

14. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presenting innersurfaces in bearing contact, means for guiding the members edgewise intheir relative movement, and a removable section carried by one of saidmembers and engaged with the other member to hold the members againstfacewise movement.

15. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presenting innersurfaces in facewise bearing contact, a separate pre-formed block fixedto one member and presenting parallel guiding surfaces perpendicular tothe inner surface thereof, a slot formed in the other member andpresenting edge walls having parallel guiding surfaces perpendicular tothe inner surface of the member and adapted for edgewise contact withthe parallel surfaces of said block, and means for holding the membersagainst facewise movement.

16. A justifying spaceband including, in combination, a pair ofrelatively movable complementary wedge-shaped members presentingmachine-ground inner surfaces in facewise bearing contact, a separatepre-formed block fixed to one member and presenting machine-ground edgewalls perpendicular to the inner surface thereof, a slot formed in theother member and presenting parallel edge walls'having machine-groundsurfaces perpendicular to the inner surface of the member and adaptedfor edgewise contact with the parallel edge walls of said block forguiding the members in their relative movement, and means for holdingthe members against facewise movement.

17. A justifying spaceband according to claim 16, wherein the means forholding the members against facewise movement comprises laterallyextending tongues formed on said block and adapted to fit in groovesformed in the edge walls of said slot. a

18. A justifying spaceband according to claim 4, characterized by thefact that the free-fitting connection therein referred to is constitutedby bevelled tongues extending laterally beyond the opposite edge wallsof the raised guiding portion carried by the one member and cooperatingbevelled surfaces extending laterally from the opposite edge walls ofthe slot formed in the other member. 7

GEORGE W. ALLISON.

